Scan barcode
bookishvice's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I'm as torn about this review as this book is about what it shows on the cover, what it wanted to say with its story, and what it ended up being.
Thrash is our sixteen-year-old fat witch MC who lives with her mom, protectrix Osmara who wields the Gift of Glamour. As you can guess, the clash between them is that Osmara prefers to glamour imperfections away, and she tries to get Thrash to conform to that view by very directly commenting on her outfit choices, her hair, and her weight. If you thought the happy and brightly colored cover was any indication of tone for how this is handled, think again. Massive fatphobia trigger warning for the entire book. Not only weight continues to be a topic that keeps coming up, but it keeps being a trigger for Thrash in all interactions, and there's never a point of growth out of this mindset. Points for being realistic, but I didn't think I was signing up to be triggered by my own body image issues for the rest of the book. Even Thrash's new-found friends each have a body image or self-worth issue. And I get these are very real issues teen (or anyone really) deal with, but my disappointment comes from none of it having a solid resolution or a turning point in the story.
The book starts mainly with Thrash, but then we start getting POVs from the other character, imo, to the detriment of the story. Because splitting our attention between so many people, and not giving us enough info or depth on each, created a very shallow pool for us to empathize or connect with the characters. Personally, I didn't connect with anyone...except maybe the bear familiar for being grumpy, to the point, and 100% a protector. But why did we need Osmara's horse familiar POV? What did it add to the story?
The worldbuilding was unique. We're presented with an alternate history of the birth of the US, and how witches interwove themselves into every aspect of daily life. The Gifts were explained well, but the knacks were sort of left to our imagination. They seemed to have no limits, no way of clearly identifying them. While I got that knacks and natural magic were supposed to be parallels to our real life creative/unique skills, I still think we could've gotten a bit more detail into this. Especially considering the dangerous nature of some knacks like mind reading. The Brotherhood guy was freely reading the girls minds without their consent and no one thought that was wrong???And the whole Brotherhood was formed by a rich guy in the 70s, lived on "protected" land near a leyline (aka highway), and the magical police had never found them??? All the little bits of info missing or details that didn't quite make sense, added up to the point where I lost interest in the world.
A couple of sensitivity issues also pinged my radar:
+ Thrash is described as being fat, having double chin, curly hair ('a magenta cloud'), pimples, and not caring about glamour for a perfect appearance. Yet the cover shows Thrash with perfect hair, perfect liner and lips, almost like she's using glamour like Cresca who sits behind her.
+ The only Black character is the poorest character of the group.
+ The Brotherhood is almost described like a tribe with how they live and how they work together, yet derisive comments fall from Thrash's and her friend's mouths.
+ The word Brotherhood itself is non-inclusive toward members who are not male, yet the group is composed of people from many genders.
Overall; it was not a pleasant read with the fatphobia triggers; it was not an easy read with so many new details and barely any resolutions or even depth to them; it was not a fulfilling read with the ending so rushed and anticlimactic; it was not the book for me.
Great cover though!
Thrash is our sixteen-year-old fat witch MC who lives with her mom, protectrix Osmara who wields the Gift of Glamour. As you can guess, the clash between them is that Osmara prefers to glamour imperfections away, and she tries to get Thrash to conform to that view by very directly commenting on her outfit choices, her hair, and her weight. If you thought the happy and brightly colored cover was any indication of tone for how this is handled, think again. Massive fatphobia trigger warning for the entire book. Not only weight continues to be a topic that keeps coming up, but it keeps being a trigger for Thrash in all interactions, and there's never a point of growth out of this mindset. Points for being realistic, but I didn't think I was signing up to be triggered by my own body image issues for the rest of the book. Even Thrash's new-found friends each have a body image or self-worth issue. And I get these are very real issues teen (or anyone really) deal with, but my disappointment comes from none of it having a solid resolution or a turning point in the story.
The book starts mainly with Thrash, but then we start getting POVs from the other character, imo, to the detriment of the story. Because splitting our attention between so many people, and not giving us enough info or depth on each, created a very shallow pool for us to empathize or connect with the characters. Personally, I didn't connect with anyone...except maybe the bear familiar for being grumpy, to the point, and 100% a protector. But why did we need
The worldbuilding was unique. We're presented with an alternate history of the birth of the US, and how witches interwove themselves into every aspect of daily life. The Gifts were explained well, but
A couple of sensitivity issues also pinged my radar:
+ Thrash is described as being fat, having double chin, curly hair ('a magenta cloud'), pimples, and not caring about glamour for a perfect appearance. Yet the cover shows Thrash with perfect hair, perfect liner and lips, almost like she's using glamour like Cresca who sits behind her.
+ The only Black character is the poorest character of the group.
+ The Brotherhood is almost described like a tribe with how they live and how they work together, yet derisive comments fall from Thrash's and her friend's mouths.
+ The word Brotherhood itself is non-inclusive toward members who are not male, yet the group is composed of people from many genders.
Overall; it was not a pleasant read with the fatphobia triggers; it was not an easy read with so many new details and barely any resolutions or even depth to them; it was not a fulfilling read with the ending so rushed and anticlimactic; it was not the book for me.
Great cover though!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, and Fatphobia
Moderate: Death of parent and Car accident
tiernanhunter's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcohol, Animal death, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Terminal illness, Cancer, Colonisation, Death of parent, Grief, and Mental illness
More...